Micromax To Co-develop Smartphones With Flipkart

Indian smartphone maker Micromax has partnered with Flipkart to jointly develop smartphones with the brand name – Evok. These devices will be in a price bracket of Rs 6,000 to Rs 12,000 and will be sold exclusively on India’s homegrown e-commerce platform Flipkart.

Micromax just broke its almost 6 months long silence in the market by launching the Dual 5, the company’s first smartphone featuring dual rear camera setup. Micromax refrained from launching any new device in the latter half of 2016 and saw its market-share slide. Well, now it seems like Micromax is all set to come back strongly. With Evok branded smartphones, the company is targeting a price segment that accounts for 50% of smartphone market by volume and 40% by value.

“It’s a long-term agreement with Flipkart where we will be developing products jointly based on the insights and consumer understanding we get,” said Shubhajit Sen, chief marketing officer at Micromax. With this move, the company is clearly targeting the value-conscious buyers. Currently, the Chinese companies are ruling this particular demographic with their competitive pricing and an excellent online presence.

We have heard statements in the past where Flipkart employee has claimed that they know better than mobile brands themselves why a mobile sells in India. With a tab over consumer buying patterns, upgrade cycles and replacement behaviours, Flipkart gets to consumer data in a form that brands can never get. That gives them an edge in defining at what price range and feature set will a product be super hit. Ever wondered why a lot of very popular mobile handsets are online only? That’s not by accident.

This is the not the first time Micromax made its online-exclusive presence. Earlier, the company introduced its sister brand YU as a joint venture between Micromax and Cyanogen Inc. The YU Televentures was put in action to lure the younger generation who likes to tweak with Android OS, and the company was quite successful. Well, at least initially. It made a lot of buzz, and tech enthusiasts were quite vocal for the brand. That, however, didn’t last long and eventually faded with the escape of Cyanogen.

Leaving that story aside. This joint initiative looks very interesting at this moment, and Micromax has already announced the first two phones- Evok Note & Evok Power. If you are looking at a Micromax device to buy today, the Dual 5 is being sold on Flipkart exclusively at Rs 24,999.

Associate Editor at PriceBaba. The skinniest guy you can find in the crowd of Mumbai. Loves to read, travel and sleep in that order. Has a dream to get fat someday. Drop a mail at [email protected] if you've any tips.